A BRIDGE OF PIGEONS! 05/11/2013

With wind becoming as familiar as the leaves falling of the trees only a few nets were once again opened and the length of time since a standardised ringing session was conducted gets ever wider. A total of just three birds found themselves in the only sheltered mist nets and include the following:

Tree Sparrow 1

Brambling 1

Bullfinch 1

Despite the strength of the wind the direction was clearly favourable with birds suddenly starting to stream over the Fuglestation and soon enough Denmark added another bridge to its already extensive collection which took the form of c7000 Woodpigeons. None of us had ever seen anything quite like it with the vanguard of the flock appearing to be in Germany and the birds at the rear just passing the Gedser Lighthouse. It was truly a special moment we will cherish for the rest of our days!

Although the Woodpigeons did eventually ease off other species continued to stream south and the following counts highlight just how special Gedser is and again reinforces that you must visit if you LOVE vis mig!

SV-South West
SØ-South East
TR-Migrating then Resting
BR-Female Type

FU- Foraging

S-South

TF-Migrating then Foraging

N-North

Ø-East 

OF-Overhead

NØ-North East
V-West

Visible Migration was recorded between 09:00-13:00 & 14:50-16:50

Mute Swan 32 SV

Swan Sp. 12 SV

Wild Swan Sp. 4 V

Bean Geese 62 S

Barnacle Geese 666 TR/FU

Tufted Duck 5 SV

Common Scoter 21 SV

Mallard 13 SV

Teal 2 SV

Eider 1389 SV

Red-breasted Merganser 33 S
Red-breasted Merganser 44 (North/Roost Movements)

Wigeon 141 SV

Shoveler 7 SV

Brent Goose 1 SV

Red-throated Diver 4 SV

Diver Sp.5 SV

Long-tailed Ducks 2 SV

Velvet Scoter 2 SV

Aythya Sp. 1 SV

Goosander 2 V

Caspian Gull 3 (two 1st winters FU and an Adult S)

Little Gull c30 FU

Golden Plover 83 SV

Wood Pigeons 14,780 S

Columba Bridge!

Pigeons for as far as the eye can see!

Stock Dove 81 S

Short-eared Owl 1 (in off)

Jackdaw 110 V 

Rook 10 V

Hooded Crow 2 V

Heron 1 SV

Merlin 2 S

Red Kite 3 (1 FU & 2 S)

Common Buzzard 10 (3 S & 7 TR)

Rough-legged Buzzard (3S & 5 TR)

Kestrel 7 (4 S & 3 TR)

Sparrowhawk 156 S

Great-spotted Woodpecker 1 SV

Skylark 76 S

Fieldfare 200 S

Mistle Thrush 4 S

Hawfinch 3 SV

Waxwing 1 S

Meadow Pipit 98 S

Rock Pipit 1 SV

Common Crossbill 124 S

Parrot Crossbill 2+ S

Fringilla Sp. 1689 S

Chaffinch 480 S

Brambling 200 S

Greenfinch 103 S

Linnet 122 S & 60 TR

Rael Vis-Migging!

 Twite 109 S & 30 TR
Tree Sparrow 16 S & 21 U-turned

Bullfinch 36 (5 Northern) S

Reed Bunting 45 S

Grey Wagtail 2 S

Alba Wagtail 2 S (1 TR)

Yellowhammer 10 S

Redpoll 481 S

Siskin 777 S

Goldfinch 139 S

3/11/2013 & 4/11/2013 AS SOON AS IT WAS IN IT WAS OTUS!

03/11/2013

No nets were opened during the 3rd due to yet more inclement weather and the only bird ringed throughout the entire day involved the Skylark mentioned in the last post that was caught during the early hours of the morning during the owl netting session.

Once the rain stopped migration counts were made at the tip between 12:00 & 15:00 hours and the following totals were made.

SV-South West
SØ-South East
TR-Migrating then Resting

BR-Female Type

FU- Foraging

S-South

TF-Migrating then Foraging

N-North

Ø-East 

OF-Overhead

NØ-North East
V-West

Red-throated Diver 5 SV

Mute Swan 7 SV

Wild Swan Sp. 6 S (most probably Bewick's)

Swan Sp. 2 S

Barnacle Goose c250 FU

Teal  10 SV

Mallard  9 FU

Mallard  5 SV

Gadwall 1 SV

Greater Scaup  1 SV

Eider  401 SV

Long-tailed Duck  13 SV

Common Scoter  105 SV

Red-breasted Merganser  19 SV

Sparrowhawk 34 S 

Kestrel 5 SV 

Kestrel 1 FU

Golden Plover 1 SV

Skylark 21 S

Skylark 12 FU 

Meadow Pipit 7 S

Meadow Pipit 2 FU

Mistle Thrush 127 SV/V

Fieldfare c1085 V 

Redwing 17 V  

Song Thrush 7 V

Jackdaw 35 V

Rook 11 SV 

Chaffinch/Brambling c250 SV

Brambling 136 SV

Chaffinch c220 SV

Greenfinch 168 S 

Greenfinch 6 TR

Goldfinch 16 FU

Goldfinch 43 S

Siskin  57 S

Linnet 84 S

Twite 13 FU

Twite 61 S

Bullfinch 1 S

Redpoll 5 S

Common Crossbill 12 SV

Snow Bunting 1 (U-turned (TR?))

Yellowhammer 2 S

Reed Bunting 4 S

Given that light was shocking during the 3rd for bird photography here is one of  Rael counting birds passing over the sea.

 04/11/2013

Sadly today was a complete wash out, with rain and wind practically all day causing us to hide inside and occasionally stare out of the window in the vain hope the weather would behave and allow for some bird watching but alas it didn't.  The rain finally came to a stop after it went dark and with managable winds Jack decided to get the Owl nets open.

Thus our new arrival for the rest of month, Barbara a ringer from Spain (quite literally a breath of fresh air given four fusty birdmen) arrived to songs of Tengmalm's Owl & Skylark and because Jack wanted to try something new Pygmy Owl tape made its autumn debut. The plan was only to have the nets open until around 11 pm but as luck would have it whilst closing the nets a Long-eared Owl was seen to escape the nets which was unfortunate but at the same time meant there was at least one in the garden. Jack and Lars stayed up late in an attempt to catch it or others but Sadly failed, although it's a hopeful sign that the birds might start coming again!

You never fail until you stop trying! 02/11/2013

With the distinct lack of surf on the sea we stepped outside the door to see whether the winds had calmed down and to our amazement they had. However the rain seemed to have taken over from where wind had left off and it soon dictated our plans for the rest of the day.

The post storm stillness whilst looking towards Gedser Harbour, photo by Rael Butcher

At first light showers allowed for the raptor nets to be opened and we soon caught 3 Sparrowhawks including two 2K+ males and a single 1K male.

After which the rain intensified and given that there was no visible migration underway and the rain seemingly never ending we were forced not only to close the nets but back inside until the afternoon.

With the rain finally stopping two hours short of sunset the nets were erected and 26 birds were caught and ringed and are as follows:

Wren 1

Robin 9

Blackbird 2

Blackcap 1

Chiffchaff 1

Greenfinch 7

Siskin 5

With the rain and wind not set to arrive again until early hours of the 3rd, every effort was was made to try and catch owls throughout the night. Although we knew it was a desperate attempt having just been through  west-south-westerly storms without a sniff of northerly influence we had to try!

Our efforts were not wasted though and despite not catching any of our intended targets we managed to catch a Skylark which was roosted over night in a warm/sheltered place and ringed & released first thing at dawn.

Also you can never fail to enjoy the brilliant noise of the Tengmalm's Owl tape interspersed with the calls of migrating Redwings, Song Thrushes, Skylarks and Blackbirds set against a back drop of a stair filled sky............now if that doesn't make you smile then you may as well be asleep!

Thanks as always and best wishes the GFU team

01-11-13 Finnish before it even started!

The day dawned with another blustery start yet the winds were somewhat less gusty and warranted a few of the sheltered nets to be opened much to the delight of the team, especially Lars who immediately came back with a reward for his efforts in the form of a fine male Sparrowhawk.

Further persistence from Lars in a non-standardised  netting session paid off again with a fine male Siskin being controlled from Finland having been lured into one of the nets as a result of playback.

2k+ Male Siskin bearing Finnish Ring photo by Hugh Hanmer

Hugh and Rael did a fine job of completing all of the outstanding office based work on Trektellen, DOFbasen, the blog and ringing data entry whilst jack had his final battle of the season with the gardens Brambles.

Avian highlights for the day included the autumns 1st Waxwings involving 16 birds (14 & a 2) that flew west over the garden calling in the wake of a large flock of Fieldfare that had just touched down in the garden.

With rain falling on southern Denmark in the afternoon nets were furled and the team retreated to the shelter of Fuglestation. After chilling out for a short while we all headed to Louis' house for a fantastic get together and joined Gert and Louis for a chat and giggle about flying fish over a traditional Danish Dish.

Hugh, Lars, Rael, Jack, Alan and Steve would like to say a huge THANKYOU to Louis for his generosity  and  a brilliant evening yet again and a thank-you to all of you who take the time to read this blog.

UPDATES

Gert in prayers after the main course (praying his pants will not burst :-) )

Rael "plunge diving" under expertise supervision ;-)

31/10/2013 A clear out and a clean up

Finally the winds have started to ease but it remains bereft of migrants both at the tip and the station and still too windy to consider standardized ringing. However, Lars' enthusiasm to ring was on fine display, spending 5 hours operating the only sheltered mist-net in the garden, catching 5 birds (3 Siskins, 2 Goldcrests) - now that's dedication... or boredom, you decide!?

Thankfully for the rest of us the party of Little Gulls feeding in the swell a short walk from the station was enough to keep us happy between spells of data entry and in Jack's case, clearing up. As expected there were a number of fallen trees and debris around the garden which Jack made short work of, topping up the firewood pile in the process, now it's just the brambles to clear and we're all ready for ringing again, or at least we hope so.

A couple of shots of Little Gulls flying close to shore (Hugh Hanmer)

 Thanks for reading Rael, Hugh, Jack and Lars

30/10/2013

Again no mist netting was attempted today but clearly even the very slight drop in the wind had triggered a movement with flocks of finches and raptors moving from early in the morning. As per usual we headed to the tip to count, passing the Caspian Gull and over a dozen Little Gulls, but soon became overwhelmed as south and westward flying birds were being blown in all directions out over, and back in from the sea. The remainder of the morning was spent just enjoying another special day of migration and some stunningly close views of Sparrowhawks especially.

The following count is of an hours watch just after 9am:
Bean Goose 12
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Common Scoter 6
Eider 21
Wigeon 1
Rough-legged Buzzard  7 plus 1 blogging
Common Buzzard 5 plus 3 blogging
Sparrowhawk 107

Adult Male Sparrowhawk passing the Tip at speed! (Hugh Hanmer)

Kestrel 5
Woodpigeon 55
Stock Dove 12
Fieldfare 710

Just 3 Fieldfares from one of the large flocks seen overhead (Hugh Hanmer)

Skylark 3
Grey Wagtail 2
Meadow Pipit 2
Chaffinch/Brambling 3060

One of the many mixed flocks of Chaffinches and Bramblings attempting to migrate off the Tip (Hugh Hanmer)

Greenfinch 140
Goldfinch 169
Siskin 126
Serin 1
Common Crossbill 48
Crossbill sp. 19
Redpoll sp. 38
Linnet 18
Twite 4 plus 40 blogging

A first year male Kestrel resting on the coastal clifftop out of the wind (Hugh Hanmer)

Thanks for reading Rael, Hugh, Jack and Lars